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Kevin Durant was just 27 years old when he joined the Warriors. Don't forget that. A former NBA MVP who is widely considered one of the three best players in the world, hitting free agency and changing teams to go to a powerhouse. This does not happen very often.

Let's be more specific. It's happened eight other times in NBA history — well, minus the part where the in-his-prime super-duperstar is going to a 73-win team.

We examined the entire history of the NBA to pick the 25 best players to change teams in their primes. (That meant double-counting a few players, LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain most prominent.) The debate is fascinating, though, because all these free agency signings and trades were absolutely monumentous — as big as Durant's, in some cases.

Special thanks for some contextual help to Basketball-Reference and ProHoopsHistory.net, which is run by SN contributor Curtis Harris. Also special thanks to the dozens of NBA history books that we've read over the years, and to SN's Sean Deveney, David Steele and Mike DeCourcy, who helped compile the list that you can read by sliding right now.

26Honorable mention

Ray Allen, 2003 (Bucks to SuperSonics): The greatest 3-point shooter before Stephen Curry was traded in the heart of his prime for an aging Gary Payton and ended up being a star on underrated Sonics teams. (Pictured right.)

Vince Carter, 2005 (Raptors to Nets): The dunking icon seemed like he might be done as a superstar at age 28 — then went and had a few of his best seasons.

Dave DeBusschere, 1968 (Pistons to Knicks): Arguably the most important player on the two-time champion Knicks of the early 1970s, the Hall of Fame power forward did all the dirty work for both his teams and rarely got the credit for it.

World B. Free, 1980 (Clippers to Warriors): The man with basketball’s greatest name was a wildly efficient scorer coming off his best season when the San Diego Clippers traded him for talented guard Phil Smith.

Bailey Howell, 1964 (Pistons to Bullets) and 1966 (Bullets to Celtics): The Hall of Fame power forward may be the best player you’ve never heard of and won two titles with the Celtics while making All-Star teams with three teams.

Dennis Johnson, 1980 (SuperSonics to Suns) and 1983 (Suns to Celtics): The Hall of Famer’s time in Phoenix was fun and accounted for two All-Star bids, but he’ll be remembered for his championships in Seattle and Boston. (Pictured center.)

Alonzo Mourning, 1995 (Hornets to Heat): At 25, the Hall of Famer was younger than just about anyone on this list but still is one of the best players in Hornets and Heat history. (Pictured left.)

Dikembe Mutombo, 1996 (Nuggets to Hawks): The four-time Defensive Player of the Year had already won the award once in Denver but clearly peaked in Atlanta.

Steve Nash, 2004 (Mavericks to Suns): If this list was about what happened after the player got to the new team, Nash would be high up on it because he won two NBA MVPs in his first two seasons back in Phoenix. But he was considered a very good, not great, point guard at the time of the free agency decision.

Dennis Rodman, 1993 (Pistons to Spurs): The only reason Rodman’s 1995 transition from the Spurs to the Bulls was not included was because of how poorly his injury- and apathy-plagued two years in San Antonio went.

Lenny Wilkens, 1968 (Hawks to SuperSonics): The Hall of Fame point guard and coach aged exceptionally well and almost could be included for changing teams as a 34-year-old from the Sonics to the Cavaliers.

25Dwight Howard, 2012 (Magic to Lakers)

The circumstances: With a year to go before hitting free agency and everyone in Orlando made aware that he wasn’t sticking around, Howard still commanded a lot of interest on the trade market. The Lakers got him in one of the biggest trades in NBA history, a four-team deal that sent Andrew Bynum from the Lakers to the 76ers, Andre Iguodala from the 76ers to the Nuggets and all three other teams’ draft assets and young players to the Magic. At the time, 26-year-old Howard was already dealing with back issues, but he was still universally regarded as the best center in the world.

The result: Somehow, the Magic won the trade. Clearly. Howard managed to play through pain in his one season with the Lakers, but he clashed so much with Kobe Bryant that he did not re-sign with the team. (Bynum was a disaster for the 76ers, and Iguodala left Denver in a tiff.) Howard still has never quite regained his stature as an elite player despite having been arguably the best player in the NBA for the 2010-11 season, just one year before the move.

24Robert Parish, 1980 (Warriors to Celtics)

The circumstances: Perhaps the worst trade in NBA history. The Warriors wanted Joe Barry Carroll, the assumed No. 1 overall pick in the 1980 NBA Draft. So they sent out Parish, who was 26 and coming off a season in which he’d averaged 17.0 points and 10.9 rebounds a game, along with the No. 3 pick in the draft for the No. 1. The third pick became Kevin McHale.

The result: Parish, McHale and Larry Bird formed the greatest frontcourt in NBA history for the next 12 years. They won three championships. Parish, the oldest of the trio, ended up outlasting the others and playing for other teams, including the Michael Jordan-era Bulls. Parish and McHale are both Hall of Famers. Carroll’s nickname became “Joe Barely Cares.” He is not a Hall of Famer.

23Chris Webber, 1998 (Wizards to Kings)

The circumstances: Unhappy with his salary, his teammates and the organization, Webber initially also resisted going to the Kings because of their losing reputation. But the 25-year-old didn’t get to make that decision, so he was traded for 32-year-old Mitch Richmond and 35-year-old Otis Thorpe. Richmond was coming off an All-Star season and only missed out on being on this list because of his age, which is also why many around the NBA criticized the Wizards for the deal.

The result: Webber became a major figure in the Kings’ early-2000s resurgence. He made four consecutive All-Star appearances starting with his second season in Sacramento and was the star of a Kings team that lost one of the most controversial series in NBA history, the 2001 Western Conference finals against the Lakers. However, that was as far as the Kings got.

22Earl Monroe, 1971 (Bullets to Knicks)

The circumstances: A dispute with owner Abe Pollin got nasty, and the Bullets’ All-Star point guard forced a trade. The Knicks already had a great young point guard in Walt Frazier, and Monroe would move to shooting guard to complement him on a team one season removed from an NBA championship. They called it the “Rolls-Royce Backcourt,” and many felt the Knicks had sealed up the makings of a dynasty.

The result: Monroe spent his first season with the Knicks playing hurt and averaging 11.9 points a game, but he eventually found his “Pearl” form and paired with Frazier to help the Knicks win the 1973 title. By the middle of the decade, with their star teammates Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Jerry Lucas retired, Frazier and Monroe were the wildly entertaining stars of a mediocre team, and Monroe stayed on with the team longer.

21Chris Bosh, 2010 (Raptors to Heat)

The circumstances: “Not one, not two, not three …” Bosh joined up with Olympic/2003 NBA Draft friends Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in the most hyped free agency period for any team in NBA history. He had been a top 10 player with mediocre teammates in Toronto and appeared ready to move on — even from his role as a go-to player. And let’s not understate how good Bosh was in Toronto: He averaged 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in his final season with the Raptors, keeping Toronto in the playoff hunt most seasons despite Andrea Bargnani being his supposed co-star.

The result: Bosh initially was criticized for not producing with the Heat as he had with the Raptors, but he found his role in Year Two. The Heat won two championships, and Bosh’s All-Star berth streak is still active at 11 consecutive years, though it's now jeopardized by a health scare.

20Walt Bellamy, 1965 (Bullets to Knicks)

The circumstances: Bellamy was 26 with career averages of 27.6 points and 16.6 rebounds per game when the Bullets traded him to the Knicks. The franchise never valued Bellamy after moving from Chicago to Baltimore, in part because he’d set the standards so high with his 31.6 and 19.0 averages during his historic rookie season. The Lakers and Knicks made competing bids for Bellamy early in the 1965 season, and the Knicks won with an offer of Johnny Green, John Egan and Jim Barnes.

The result: When the Knicks made the trade, they likely were underestimating the young center they’d drafted a year earlier, Willis Reed. Bellamy and Reed were not an ideal pairing, both being brutish paint stars, and by 1968-69, after Bellamy had been the Knicks’ best player for three seasons, he was overshadowed by Reed. That led him to being traded to the Pistons and the Knicks winning championships in 1970 and 1973 with Reed as their star.

19Oscar Robertson, 1970 (Royals to Bucks)

The circumstances: Bob Cousy was considered the greatest point guard in NBA history in 1970. Robertson was the guy who was slowly passing him in stature. Cousy was coaching Robertson. So they fought. They fought until the Cincinnati Royals, of the city where Robertson went to college, had to trade him for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk. Robertson was 31, but he was still widely viewed as a top-10 player.

The result: The 1970-71 Bucks will go down as one of the greatest teams in NBA history. Robertson paired with Lew Alcindor, who had not yet changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to win 66 regular-season games and a championship — the only one of his career. He spent the final four seasons of his career in Milwaukee, averaging 16.3 points and 7.5 assists a game.

18Grant Hill, 2000 (Pistons to Magic)

The circumstances: Hill was at the very peak of his powers and seemingly stepping in for retired Michael Jordan as the best perimeter player in the NBA. He was joining a Magic team that was having a massively successful offseason, also adding Tracy McGrady and nearly Tim Duncan in free agency.

The result: Hill was dealt a series of injuries that wiped away his prime and the Magic’s championship dreams. McGrady became a superstar in his own right and was traded to the Rockets a few years later. Hill managed to lengthen his career with the Suns and become a valuable rotation player for years.

17Pete Maravich, 1974 (Hawks to Jazz)

The circumstances: The Jazz were created in 1974 and decided to trade away pretty much all their assets in building a team to the Hawks to get Maravich, a Louisiana native and legend who had finished second in the NBA in scoring the year before for the Hawks. Here’s the running total of what was dealt for the 27-year-old: Bob Kauffman, Dean Meminger, a 1974 1st round draft pick (Mike Sojourner was later selected), a 1975 1st round draft pick (David Thompson), a 1975 2nd round draft pick (Bill Willoughby), a 1976 2nd round draft pick (Alex English) and a 1980 3rd round draft pick (Jonathan Moore).

The result: Maravich’s Jazz never made the playoffs, but he remained an entertaining draw. Still, the franchise relocated to Utah after five seasons in New Orleans, then traded Maravich to the Celtics that season, which turned out to be his last. Maravich won a scoring title and was named to three All-Star teams with the Jazz.

16Jason Kidd, 2001 (Suns to Nets)

The circumstances: Kidd was arrested for hitting his wife in January 2001 and pleaded guilty to spousal abuse — a crime that now would incur much steeper penalty from the NBA itself. Already considered one of the two best point guards in the NBA, the 28-year-old finished the season with the Suns despite also having issues with coach Scott Skiles but was traded in the offseason. The Nets were happy to move on from Stephon Marbury, while the Suns hoped to revitalize the talented younger point guard.

The result: Kidd finished runner-up for MVP in turning the Nets from 26-56 to 52-30 in his first season, the first of consecutive unsuccessful NBA Finals runs. He played 6 1/2 seasons with the Nets and is widely viewed as one of the franchise’s greatest players ever, alongside Julius Erving and Buck Williams.

15Chris Paul, 2011 (Hornets to Clippers)

The circumstances: The New Orleans Hornets, now the Pelicans, had their big postseason chance in 2008 but had mostly been spinning their wheels with Paul as their star since. He was becoming unhappy with the franchise, and they decided to break it all up. Remarkably, the Hornets’ lack of an ownership group played a huge role. The Lakers made the first move on Paul and came to an agreement on a three-team trade centered on Pau Gasol and the Rockets’ Kevin Martin. Instead, the NBA vetoed that deal. Paul was traded to the Clippers for a deal centered on Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu instead.

The result: Paul has remained an elite-tier point guard to this day for the Clippers, but the team has not even made the Western Conference finals despite having him and Blake Griffin. The Hornets, meanwhile, suffered years of poor play but landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft to take Anthony Davis. The Lakers watched their dynasty crumble.

14Shaquille O’Neal, 2004 (Lakers to Heat)

The circumstances: O’Neal and Kobe Bryant couldn’t get along. That’s the gist of it. The Lakers had to choose one, so they traded the older superstar to the Heat for a package headlined by Lamar Odom and Caron Butler.

The result: O’Neal won his fourth title before Bryant, in his second season with the Heat. He formed a dynamic duo with Dwyane Wade, whom he nicknamed “Flash,” then ended up playing for the Suns, Cavaliers and Celtics to wind down his career.

13Kevin Garnett, 2007 (Timberwolves to Celtics)

The circumstances: Garnett’s T-wolves hadn’t made the playoffs in three years, and the roster was so barren of talent thanks to the Joe Smith contract ordeal that they needed a restart. He was three years removed from an MVP season and still widely considered one of the three best players in the NBA, but he initially hesitated on moving to Boston. Still, the Celtics had acquired Ray Allen in addition to Paul Pierce, and the trio gave rise to the current vision of offseason “Big Three” formations.

The result: A championship in Year One, and an NBA Finals appearance in Year Three. Garnett reasserted how good he can be on a good team in a way that has tremendously aided his legacy, and the Celtics posed a real threat in the Eastern Conference from 2008 through 2013, when they traded Garnett and Pierce for a massive haul from the Nets.

12Elvin Hayes, 1972 (Rockets to Bullets)

The circumstances: Hayes never quite jelled with coach Tex Winter, the man credited with inventing the triangle offense, for the San Diego then Houston Rockets. So even though he was a University of Houston alumnus playing for a franchise that had just relocated to the city, the Rockets traded the 26-year-old for All-Star swingman Jack Marin, who was 27.

The result: The Rockets got worse, and Marin only made one more All-Star team and was traded again in 1974. The Bullets made the NBA Finals in 1975, ’78 and ’79, winning in 1978. Hayes returned to the Rockets in 1981 for the final three seasons of his incredible career — he’s ninth in points and fourth in rebounds in NBA history.

11Charles Barkley, 1992 (76ers to Suns)

The circumstances: The Sixers’ lack of playoff success frustrated Barkley, who had joined a team with Julius Erving and Moses Malone but found himself by the early 1990s mostly alone. So he forced a trade, and he nearly went to the post-Magic Johnson Lakers. Instead, the Sixers took a package of Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry — which is not as bad a deal as often is suggested, considering Hornacek’s remarkable efficiency.

The result: The Suns made the Finals in their first year with Barkley and gave the Bulls as good a run as any team Michael Jordan faced in his dominant 1990s, six titles in six full seasons run. But they never made it back to the Finals, and Barkley was traded in 1996 to the Rockets.

10Bob McAdoo, 1976 (Braves to Knicks)

The circumstances: McAdoo was the NBA’s best scorer for three consecutive seasons entering the fall of 1976, when a public dispute with the Braves’ franchise led them to look for a trade. The 25-year-old was sent to the Knicks with Tom McMillen for John Gianelli and cash.

The result: McAdoo joined Spencer Haywood and Earl Monroe on the Knicks, and the results were wildly underwhelming. He averaged 24.1 points and 10.8 rebounds in a little more than two years with the Knicks, but the chemistry was off, and McAdoo was traded in 1979 to the Celtics and ended up playing with the Pistons, Nets, Lakers and 76ers in his Hall of Fame career.

9Kevin Durant, 2016 (Thunder to Warriors)

The circumstances: Durant hit free agency in a year with an unprecedented salary cap spike that left nearly every team capable of signing him. He chose to leave the Thunder, where he’d spent nine seasons not winning championships, to join the 2015 champion Warriors, who were coming off a 73-victory campaign in which they collapsed historically in the Finals against the Cavaliers.

8Wilt Chamberlain, 1968 (76ers to Lakers)

The circumstances: Chamberlain, nearing the end of his prime at 31 but still the two-time defending NBA MVP, simply decided he was done playing in his hometown and wanted to go to the Lakers. He forced the Sixers’ hand by threatening to leave them entirely and go to the ABA, which was a very viable alternative. So the Sixers dealt Chamberlain for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff — somehow, a better package than they’d used to get the iconic center three years earlier.

The result: Chamberlain joined Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, only to lose in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in each of his first two years there. They broke through in 1972 for Chamberlain’s second championship.

7Julius Erving, 1976 (Nets to 76ers)

The circumstances: The Nets were broke, faced with heavy fees from joining the NBA and infringing on the Knicks’ territory within the league. So they sent the best player in the ABA away for money. That’s that.

The result: Erving’s 76ers made the Finals in his first NBA season, losing to the upstart Trail Blazers. They were good for literally his entire tenure, but they suffered three consecutive heartbreak playoff losses to start the 1980s before Moses Malone jumped aboard and lifted the team to a championship. Erving played his entire NBA career with the Sixers, lasting 11 seasons.

6Shaquille O’Neal, 1996 (Magic to Lakers)

The circumstances: O’Neal simply outgrew Orlando. He did not feel loved or respected by a franchise that probably adored teammate Penny Hardaway more, and he did not like coach Brian Hill. Jerry West convinced him to come to the Lakers, and he became a “movie” “star” that summer with “Kazaam” to grease the wheels even further.

The result: The Lakers made huge strides right away but did not make an NBA Finals in O’Neal’s first three seasons. Then they fired Del Harris, hired Phil Jackson and won three titles in a row from 2000 to 2002, with O’Neal sweeping Finals MVP honors. Things soured with co-star Kobe Bryant, but that came later.

5LeBron James, 2014 (Heat to Cavaliers)

The circumstances: Perhaps nostalgic for home, perhaps feeling limited by Miami’s supporting cast, James returned to Ohio. He was 29 years old but still widely considered one of the two best players in the world, alongside Kevin Durant, who had dethroned him as MVP.

The result: Year One turned a lottery team into the Eastern Conference champions. Year Two gave Cleveland with its first championship in 52 years. Sounds like a success.

4Moses Malone, 1982 (Rockets to 76ers)

The circumstances: Malone played for nine pro basketball franchises but only two during his prime. Malone had won MVP for the Rockets in 1978-79 and again in 1981-82. Then he signed under the veteran free agent designation to play with Julius Erving and win for the first time in his career — though because of how the rules worked then, the 76ers had to give up Caldwell Jones and a future first-round pick.

The result: The Sixes won the championship in 1983 with one of the greatest teams in NBA history — losing only once in the postseason. Malone played for the Sixers for four seasons, ushering in the Charles Barkley era for the franchise, and had underrated shooting guard Andrew Toney stayed healthy, they assuredly would have won another championship.

3Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1975 (Bucks to Lakers)

The circumstances: Abdul-Jabbar, the three-time NBA MVP and widely acknowledged best player in the world, wanted a bigger market. It was pretty much that simple. He had a voice that he wanted heard by a larger audience, preferably in New York or Los Angeles. He was dealt to the rebuilding Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters.

The result: Jerry West had retired two years before Abdul-Jabbar joined the Lakers, and he found himself on a pretty weak team. They missed the postseason in Year One and were not particularly impressive the next three years. But Bill Sharman’s team-building started kicking in as the franchise drafted Magic Johnson in 1979. For the next 10 years, Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar were a tour de force and won five titles while reaching four more Finals.

2Wilt Chamberlain, 1965 (Warriors to 76ers)

The circumstances: The Warriors moved from Philadelphia, Chamberlain’s hometown, to San Francisco in 1962, and the fit never quite made sense. Here was the best player in the NBA averaging more than 34 points and 22 rebounds a game every season and not really being loved. Add in that the Warriors were in financial trouble and the Syracuse Nationals had relocated to become the Philadelphia 76ers, and the trade seemed destined — even though the Warriors should have received a whole lot more than Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash.

The result: Chamberlain’s 76ers issued one of the very best seasons in NBA history in 1966-67, going 68-13 and beating the Warriors in the NBA Finals. He stayed great for his 3 1/2 seasons there, but there were some issues that led to his aforementioned trade to the Lakers in 1968.

1LeBron James, 2010 (Cavaliers to Heat)

The circumstances: You remember this one. “The Decision.” Frustration with Cleveland. Playing with friends. Burning jerseys. James was the two-time defending MVP when he left. He was the best player in the NBA, no matter what Kobe Bryant fans will tell you. This was a moment. The NBA shook.

The result: Year One’s ugly finish gave way to two glorious ones. The Heat were the best team in the league for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and won championships as a result, while James won consecutive MVPs. In 2013-14, though, the supporting cast (including Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh) showed some weakness, James failed to win MVP and the Heat faltered in the NBA Finals. So he left to go back to Cleveland.

Next Up:NBA free agency tracker: Where have the top free agents landed?